Mohamed and Raneem crowned world champions

Raneem El Welily and Mohamed El Shorbagy strike a happy pose with the spoils.

Manchester, December 18: Mohamed El Shorbagy had to overcome mixed emotions to win the Professional Squash Association (PSA) world title at the Central Convention Complex courts by beating his brother Marwan 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6 in the first ever final between brothers.

It was double delight for Egyptians as Raneem El Welily clinched the PSA women's crown, defeating compatriot and defending champion Nour El Sherbini 3-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-5.

Mohamed had twice lost PSA world finals by the narrowest of margins to compatriot Ramy Ashour, but he was not prepared for an even harder opponent -- the younger sibling with whom he has been competing since they were both old enough to walk.

It was a contest of sensational hitting, breath-taking movement, and obvious emotion between two men who could often guess what the other might do.

It may have been Marwan's later schedule the previous night and subsequent shorter recovery time which eventually made a difference.

The end came with a ferocious cross court forehand winner from Mohamed, after which Marwan responded by applauding Mohamed for his achievement.

Mohamed tried to soften the blow by lifting Marwan's arm as the crowd clapped, and there followed a very long hug between the brothers.

"I waited a long time for this moment and it was such a hard feeling," said Mohamed.

El Welily had also suffered two World Championship final defeats in the past - with the 2014 final seeing her surrender four championship balls against Malaysia's Nicol David - but it was third time lucky for the Cairo-based World No.2 after she came back from a game down to defeat world No.1 El Sherbini.

"So much has changed since 2014. The game has changed, I have changed, the sport is different from then. We're all adapting and improving. I hope I can keep the same attitude for the remainder of the season. From this moment to the next event I don't know what will happen, but I know I don't want to stop with just this one success."

Results

Men
[3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [6] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) 3-2: 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6 (71m)
Women
[2] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) 3-1: 3-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-5 (43m)